Gas-separator.



UNITED STATES Patented April 12, 1904.

OSCAR GERLACH OF IOLA, KANSAS.

GAS-SEPARATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 757,034, dated April12, 1904.

Application filed March 23, 1903.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OSCAR GnRLAoH, a citizen of the German Empire,residing at Iola, in the county of Allen and State of Kansas, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for SeparatingGas from Water, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for separating gasfrom water, and is especially adapted for use in connection withnatural-gas wells from which the gas is; sues with sufic'ient force tocarry therewith the water and moisture that usually accumulates at thebottom of said wells.

The essential feature of the invention may be said to consist in arotary fan of peculiar construction through which the gas may be pumpedor forced by its own pressure and escapes into a receiver, from which itmay be drawn as required, while the water in the gas is struck by theblades of the swiftly-moving fan and precipitated upon a bottomdisk ofthe latter, from which it is thrown by centrifugal force into a sealedchamber and from there conducted to and discharged at a suitable pointfrom the well. 7

The invention may be said to further consist in the novel arrangementand combination of parts hereinafter described, and more particularlypointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying. drawings, which illustrate my invention, Figure 1represents a vertical central sectional View of the apparatus. Fig. 2 isatransverse sectional view of the rotary fan and the shell, taken online H II of Fig. 1.

1n the drawings, 1 indicates a pipe leading from the well and connectedby bolts 2 to one end of a return-bend 3, which is connected at itsopposite end by bolts ito one side of the upper portion of a shell 5,with which it communicates through opening 5. Said shell consists of twocup-like sections 6 7, connected at their meeting portions by bolts 8, ahip ple 18 engaging the bottom portion of section 7 and a T-coupling 19engaging the lower threaded end of the nipple.

Section 6 is provided at its upper portion with a central bearing 9 andastufling-boX 10, having a gland 11 adjustably secured in posi- SerialNo. 1%,233- (N0 model.)

tion by stud-bolts 12 and taps 13 for the purpose of compressing packing14 around a vertical shaft 15, journaled in bearing 9 and a step-bearinghereinafter referred to. Shaft 15 is provided at its upper end with arigidlymounted pulley 16, which may be belted to a suitable motor.(Not,shown.)

Section 7 is supported upon a platform 5 by an integral flange 17 andits reduced bottom portion is provided with a threaded cen tral aperturefor the reception of nipple 18, which extends upwardly into chamber 6,formed by sections 6 and 7, as shown in Fig. 1.

T 19 has an outlet-pipe 20, leading to a receiver, (not shown,) and itslower end is closed by a screw-plug 21, provided with the stepbearingabove referred to for the reception of the lower rounded end of shaft15, having valve-controlled lubricant-supply pipes 22 communicatingtherewith.

23 designates a rotary fan located within chamber 6*, and it consists ofan inverted-cupshaped casting 24, circular flanges 28, secured to thetop and central portion of said casting, and radial blades 29, providedwith top and bottom flanges 30, which are riveted to the circularflanges.

' Casting 24cis provided with peripheral apertures 25 and a central hub26, whereby it is mounted upon shaft 15, to which it is secured byakey27. The lower end of the casting extends down and around the upperportion of the nipple, and the joint between the two is sealed by thewater separated from the gas, which submerges the lower end of saidextension.

The surplus water accumulating in chamber 6 is conducted therefrom bydrain-pipes 31, leading from the chamber to a trap 32, provided toprevent the escape of the gas with the water, which latter is dischargedthrough an outlet-pipe 33.

As the gas issues from the well through pipe 1 and enters chamber 6 itflows through apertures 25 in the rotary fan and escapes into thereceiver through nipple 18, T 19, and pipe 20, while the water in thegas is struck by the swiftly-moving blades 29, whichprecipitate it tothe bottom disk 28 and is discharged by the centrifugal force of the faninto chamber 6", from which it is trapped in order to prevent the gasfrom escaping therewith before the gas passes through apertures 25.After passing through the latter the gas is prevented from escaping backinto the chamber through the space between the upper portion of thenipple and the extended lower end of casting a 24 by the water seal inthe chamber and by flanges 35 36, secured to the casting and the nipple.p: I

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent,

the threaded opening of the casting and extending upwardly in the lattera suitable distance, a T secured to the lower threaded end of thenipple, an outlet-pipe leading from the T, and a plug closing the lowerend of the T and provided with astep-bearing; a shaft journaled in thebearings, a fan rigidly mounted upon the shaft and provided withapertures, an extension forming part of the fan and surrounding theupper portion of the nipple, and drain-pipes communicating with thelower cup-shaped casting at a point above the lower end of the extensionon the fan.

In testimony whereof I affiX my signature in the presence of twowitnesses.

OSCAR GERLACH,

Witnesses:

A. C. RANKIN, J. A. WHEELER.

